The Cosmic Butt Kick

The Future of this Blog

Regular readers of my blog may notice that I haven't been updating it as much as I had been for a while. Please know that this isn't because I've run out of things to share with you! And I really appreciate all of the readers who have written to me in response to various posts I've made. It's so gratifying to know when I've struck a chord with people, tickled their funny bone, or, well, annoyed the #$%@ out of them!

I'm in the midst of a bunch of big projects - working on my first book, to be released in late summer/early fall, and also putting together my new website, which I hope to launch in early summer. My site will have tons of changing features, Q&A discussions, and how-to articles about just about everything under the metaphysical sun. I'll also be posting my astro-updates as exciting astrological trends surface each month, telling you how to make the most of those stellar energies.

As all of this preparation is going on, my attention isn't being focused so much here at my blog. But I guarantee that if you bookmark it and still check back twice a week or so, there should be something new to keep you entertained. I just won't be able to update it every day.

In the meantime, if you'd like to get involved with what's evolving here, I invite you to send me your questions, comments, or personal experiences in the world of spirituality, New Age thought, and/or astrology, and I'll be happy to shoot back responses here at the blog. That might be a fun thing to do, to start inviting more reader participation. You can choose to include your name and contact info or post anonymously, whichever you prefer.

Some topics I'd love to chit-chat about here in my blog:

Psychic experiences
Angelic encounters
Ghostbusting
Meditation and healing
The wacky and wonderful things happening in the holistic health community
General spiritual development
Divination - tarot, palmistry, and the like
Dreams and their meaning
Frauds, cults, and negative experiences within the New Age community
Shamanism, soul retrieval, healing the Earth
Connections with the animal kingdom, plant kingdom, and mineral kingdom

I tutor and teach on all of these subjects and have tons of personal experiences with each topic, so we can explore some rich territory here.

So start brainstorming, and if you have a question or comment you'd like to see responded to here in my blog, send it to me:

newagetalk@comcast.net

The End of the World as We Know It - Or Not!

I have a real problem with those doom and gloom New Age types who are waiting for the world to end. These days, there are large numbers of people salivating at the thought of Planet X crashing into the Earth, aliens descending and conquering us, Armageddon and nuclear war happening, etc. The list of potential doomsday scenarios is endless.

Certain evidence is quoted to back up these theories, much of it culled from ancient prophecies and early cultures. I'm not saying that these sources are necessarily off base. Who knows what the future may hold? And many of these cultures have been proven to be eerily accurate with their assessments of the universe we live in. Over 3000 years ago, the Sumerians of Mesopotamia wrote about the existence of a planet called Nibiru at the far edges of our solar system with a weird, elliptical orbit. The new planetoid Sedna was recently discovered by astronomers, and guess what? It's at the far reaches of our solar system and has a weird, elliptical orbit.

There are many end time prophecies in all of the world's religions, and indigenous people have been predicting Earth changes or upcoming dimensional shifts on the planet for thousands of years. The Mayan calendar is one that gets talked about a lot in New Age circles, as it gives the exact date for the end of the world - the year 2012. (How convenient for us. At least we'll be prepared.)

Mixed into these scenarios is the belief that because we have poisoned the Earth, harming ourselves and our environment, The Powers That Be aren't going to tolerate it much longer. God will rain punishment down upon us, angels will judge us, aliens will annihilate us, etc. and so on. Choose your method of death and torture -- there's a huge smorgasbord of potential scenarios available.

Changes do need to take place here, as far as a shift in consciousness goes. Many spiritual teachers are saying that humanity is going through energy shifts that are creating greater awareness, stronger psychic abilities, and a re-awakened connection to our personal spiritual power. That sounds like a good thing, doesn't it? I'd have to say that I agree that this is happening. Oh, it's not the names you read in the papers who are demonstrating this awareness shift. Among public figures, there is a vested interested in preserving appearances and keeping the machines of war, greed, and bloodlust stoked. But behind the scenes, among circles that I circulate in, something very different appears to be happening.

I've been privileged to navigate through the worlds of the arts, the holistic healing community, and New Age/metaphysical circles. In each of these segments of the population, I've observed a huge awakening in people. More and more, there is a sincere desire to change the world for the better, to infiltrate society's structures and organizations and to reshape them. Or, people are becoming daring individualists, starting their own companies, doing their own thing, and striving to live in a principled, peaceful fashion.

There are healer types who put up a shingle and say, "Healer," openly advertising what they stand for. And there are sneaky healers who are quietly shifting events behind the scenes. Both types are addressing the challenging work of fixing some of the mess we've gotten ourselves into.

Things will get better here. We need to keep a careful watch on our fears and negative projections. The power of prayer or collective consciousness is very real. If enough people pray and believe in peace, it can happen. If enough people are determined to create a very different scenario, expect World War III to be acted out on your doorstep.

I was doing some meditating the other day and received this interesting bit of wisdom: "Every day, you are making a choice to embrace death or to embrace life."

I think this is true. While it is important to remain informed about the various troubling things that are going on in this world, there's a difference between dwelling upon those energies and becoming a part of the darkness or embracing the light and daring to live a different reality.

What are you giving your energy to today? Me, I think I'll curl up on this rainy day with a nice cup of coffee, a few cats, and some rewarding creative work. I'm choosing to believe not just in tomorrow, but a multitude of tomorrows, each of them better than the last.

Why not join me for that cup of coffee?

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

Psychics and Heart Energy

Have you ever seen one of those famous psychics or mediums on T.V. casually spitting out info about life, death, and sex, behaving in such a detached manner you'd think they were reporting the evening news?

I have a real problem with psychics who do not have their heart chakra open and don't express loving empathy when they toss out their perceptions. For about ten years, I worked at a ton of psychic fairs and knew lots of psychics in the holistic healing community. I am sad to report that most of them are this way. Meaning, their heart isn't open, but their mouths are!

It' s a mistake to believe that, to access psychic abilities, a person must have stellar qualities and a highly developed level of spiritual awareness. You can also access psychic abilities while walking the dark path or engaging in the black arts. Too many psychics, I have observed, have managed to pop open the third eye through
manipulative magic, but the heart center and the crown chakra (seat of higher wisdom and connection to God/Goddess/A Higher Power) are still closed.

Many famous psychics appear to be this way. I remember one time watching Sylvia Browne give some readings to audience members on Montel Williams' show. One man who seemed very sad stood up and said that his mother and his grandmother were both very sick,and did she see either of them dying?

Sylvia didn't even pause for a moment to offer any kind of comforting words. She just shot out in this egotistic "I know everything" way, "Grandmother yes, mother no." And the poor man just sat down without another word, obviously shaken. She didn't even bother to follow up with any spiritual counselling, telling him how he could help to aid his Grandmum's passage to the higher realms through prayer or anything. She just gave this arrogant display. Her entire attitude was "Me psychic, you not!"

This was some years back before she had positioned herself more as a spiritual counselor type. Now she has all these books out that detail the structure of heaven, the world of the angels (according to her,) and so forth. Although she's softened up a little, an empath like me can see that there is still very little heart energy in her work. She's gotten a bit lighter over the years, compared to the hard manner that she used to convey, but my sense is that having enough money will make anybody a bit more mellow! Her lighter attitude doesn't seem to be due to spiritual growth per se.

Of course, I may be wrong, of course. But I'll never forget how cold she was with that one poor man who was obviously very upset. A very revealing moment, in my opinion.

Too many psychics just shoot out their perceptions without any humility. They also don't admit that even the world's best psychics are only 85% right under the best of circumstances. It's all ego ego ego ego ego ego and "Give me $400 for a half hour reading." No wonder people get creeped out when someone says they are psychic, there are so many characters like this out there!

Carolyn Myss would appear to be the same way. I spoke with a man last year who had spent some time in the circle of this woman's family. Their families took a day trip together in New York and spent many hours in close quarters. He told me that she is a "bitch on wheels" in her private life, not remotely loving or spiritual in her tone. I trust this man's description because he is a very sincere spiritual guy who was totally shocked at witnessing this best-selling author's manner with her own family. And here she has written books like Anatomy of the Spirit, which is supposed to teach you how to overcome illness and heavy energy! Geesh.

I like John Edward and James Van Praagh, who are both fuzzy teddy bear people with a great sense of humor, a sweetness of energy, and truly amazing metaphysical gifts. And I adore Sonya Fitzpatrick, the pet psychic lady who has that show on Animal Planet. I'll never forget this one episode where she was visiting an animal rescue center for wild animals who had been orphaned or injured. She sat down with this baby racoon and she just started to cry and cry spontaneously because the poor little thing was so distraught over losing its mother. You don't fake that level of empathy. You can't orchestrate that type of caring.

I encourage anybody who either has a session with a psychic, listens to one on the radio, or watches one on T.V. to keep their eyes and their hearts open in order to sense the person's true energy. What's that Biblical phrase warning against false prophets and fake spiritual seekers? "By their deeds ye shall know them." If someone expresses compassion, a sense of responsibility, and a loving energy, they are aligned with the kindness of a Higher Power. Watch to see if the psychic creates chaos or generates peace. It's a simple litmus test that will instantly show you whether or not someone serves the Dark Side of the Force.

If a psychic's whole manner screams, "Worship me as a God!" run the other way. You don't need a spiritual counselor whose ego has become Super-Sized. Listening to their advice will just bind you up in fear and feelings of enslavement, when, in truth, you are a miraculous and spiritually sovereign being.

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

PS It's not to late to register for Using Dreams as Inspiration for Fiction, my online creative writing class through WritersWeekly.com. See blog entries below.

Dream Survey and Upcoming Class

I recently finished teaching an online class through WritersWeekly.com that taught students ways to use their dreams as inspiration for fiction writing. The class will be offered again starting Monday, April 26th, and it's not too late to register. I will also be teaching it again in the summer months.

The last class was a lot of fun. All of us were sharing different dreams that we've had, whether they were weird, funny, or emotionally involving. The class is designed to help you to learn how to harvest your dream content and use it as a take off point for creative writing, but you don't have to be a serious author to enjoy the course. If you've ever wondered how to access the language of your subconscious mind, this course might be intriguing for you.

Weekly lessons or "lectures" are delivered each week via email, and I provide a lot of information about the history of dreams, the spiritual energy in dreams, and more. Short assignments are given. Usually, these are just explorations of how to use dreams as entry points for short (very short!) stories. Students are encouraged to create story fragments of one to three pages in length, nothing too complicated. Stories don't have to be polished or perfect, and you can also choose not to share your stories with the class. It's very much a self-study type of class, only with lots of discussion via email if the student wants to join in.

Teaching this course has raised lots of interesting questions about our dreaming lives. I'd like to throw a couple of questions out to my readers here just for fun. Please email me if you'd like to become part of this (very informal) dream survey. I appreciate your input, as it will help me as I prepare to teach this class again.

How often do you remember your dreams? Do you remember one per week, generally speaking? Snippets of several? Pieces of five or six, on average? How detailed are your memories? Do you just retain bits and pieces, or do dreams tend to stick in your memory as an entire narrative? Everybody's brain works differently.

Do you only remember them if you jot them down or take extra time to review them in your mind after you wake up? Or is it easy for you to access sections of your dreams throughout the day? Have you ever tried to record them on a tape recorder, or is that too complicated?

One thing that has been proven is that, with a little practice, and by keeping a dream journal handy to jot things down, you should be able to gradually increase your degree of dream recall.

I know that if I take extra time in the morning to stay in bed, with my eyes still closed, the room quiet, and without any distractions (which can be rare!), I can mentally review my dreams each morning and usually come up with about three. I won't always remember all the details, but I can usually get bits and pieces.

I'd be interested to find out more about your own ease (or difficulty) with dream recall. If you'd like to share some of your dreaming adventures to me, see my email address below.

And here's the link about my class at WritersWeekly.com if you'd like to join us for this next round of dreaming fun.

USING DREAMS AS INSPIRATION FOR FICTION CLASS

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

The Creative Magic of Dreams
-- Plus Using Dreams as Inspiration for Fiction Writing Course Offered

How many of us have at some point been fascinated by an inspiring or even disturbing dream? Our dreams aren’t just entertaining “movies.” They are also important messages from our creative spirit. Getting in the habit of writing in a dream journal is a valuable technique, because it helps you to learn how to “decode” the language of your subconscious mind. If we learn how to pay attention to what our dreams are telling us, rich treasures can be unearthed, such as messages from deceased loved ones, prophetic visions, and even problem-solving strategies that can help us to heal our most challenging relationships.

The Senoi, the indigenous people of Malaysia, have long maintained an intimate relationship with their dreams. Their tradition has been to teach their children to confront fear in their dreams, standing up to an attacking tiger, for instance, and fighting back. This technique of overcoming fear built up the self-esteem of the younger generations so beautifully that, for many centuries, the Senoi were some of the healthiest and most mentally balanced people on the planet. Alas, modern culture has fragmented the Senoi spirit, and many Senoi who are still living today will no longer talk about their dreaming traditions.

Back when the Senoi were still sharing their techniques with Westerners, they described how they had two other simple rules for managing dreams. Besides confronting fear and learning to face foes in dream space, they also had a practice of openly embracing all people and beings who would appear in their dreams, building a friendly connection to others. (As long as they weren’t attacking them!) This practice of building bonds of friendship with others at the subconscious level seemed to carry over into their daily lives. The Senoi were an extraordinarily peaceful society who was free of war.

The Senoi also learned to look for what they called “dream gifts.” These would be beautiful or special items in dream space that would be taken as personal gifts, such as garments, jewelry, foods, or other items that had a feeling of happiness and abundance associated with them. This tradition of seeking gifts from the dream realm also seemed to heighten their appreciation for the many day-to-day gifts that Mother Nature brought them each day. The Senoi lived simply in long, community huts built from bamboo that sat on stilts, and they maintained a mostly vegetarian diet, growing foods like pumpkins, breadfruit, and bananas.

We can learn much from the ways of the Senoi.

1) Confronting fears while they are still lurking in the subconscious can help to make us braver in our daily, waking lives. So when that tiger attacks, fight back!

2) Learning to actively befriend all whom we encounter in dream space readies us for peace here in the material world. By practicing peace collectively in our dreams, we increase the odds of being able to keep our hearts open in our waking lives.

3) And lastly, by looking for the many gifts that are offered in our dreams, whether they are items, relationships, or visions of high truth, we prepare ourselves to embrace the many miracles that constantly surround us in our daily lives. What if Heaven is already here on Earth, and we just need to develop the vision that will enable us to see it?

In Western culture, many of our great inventors and artists have been inspired by “dream gifts.” Elias Howe invented the sewing machine after having an inspirational dream about it. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, had a group of guides who appeared in his dreams and regularly provided him with ideas. Wagner, Mozart and Beethoven all composed musical works that were inspired by dreams, and even modern rocker Sting has included dream-inspired songs on his albums. (Remember his Dream of the Blue Turtle album?) And the great mathematician Albert Einstein used pieces of a dream to help devise his theory of relativity. The creative energies that bubble up from the dreaming, subconscious mind are an incredible resource to tap into.

If dreams intrigue you, and if you’ve like to learn how to use them to expand your creative writing abilities, I invite you to check out this class that I will be offering. It starts on April 26 and runs until May 31st, and it is conducted entirely by email.

In the meantime, happy dreaming to all!

lipstickmystic@comcast.net


USING DREAMS AS INSPIRATION FOR FICTION

"On a whim, I chose to take the Dreamers course through Writers Weekly. It became one of the best things I have done to refresh and enlighten myself as a writer. Not only of great benefit,the class is also great fun. I highly recommend it." Dorry C. Pease

“There was something freeing about this class. One of the more valuable and unusual writing experiences I’ve had.” Bruce Schirmers

Message From Arvol Looking Horse


I, Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nation, would like to ask for this time for you to understand an Indigenous perspective in reflection of what has happened in America, what we call "Turtle Island". For the past six years, my work has concentrated on an effort on uniting the Global community, through a message from our sacred ceremonies in recognizing a day of World Peace and Prayer on June 21st as a time to unite spiritually, each in our own ways of beliefs in the Creator.

We have been warned from the messages, passed down from Ancient Prophecies of these times we live in today, but also a very important message of a solution to turn these terrible times around. To assist you in understanding the depth of this message involves the recognition in the importance of Sacred Sites. It is important that you realize the whole interconnectedness of what is happening today, in reflection of the continued massacres that are occurring on other lands and our own Americas. I have been learning about these important issues of Sacred Sites since the age of 12, upon receiving the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle and it's teachings. Our people have
strived to protect Sacred Sites from the beginning of time. There needs to be an understanding in the concern of the protection of Sacred Sites that goes deeper than just the issue of Shrines built by humans.

Our people have built similar objects and Shrines to identify and to remind the significance in the power of the Sacred Site. We have also witnessed them being destroyed for many decades, but we also realize it is what is underneath them that is important. These places have been violated for centuries and have brought us to this predicament that we are in concerning the unstable Global Level thus far. Look around you, our Mother Earth is very ill from these violations and we are at a brink of destroying a healthy and nurturing survival for generations to come, our children's children.

Our ancestors have been trying to protect our Sacred Site from the continued violations called the Sacred Black Hills in SD, "Heart of Everything that is". Our ancestors never seen this site from a Satellite view, but now that those pictures are available with modern technology, we see that it is in the shape of a heart and when fast forwarded it looks like a heart pumping. The Dine have been protecting Big Mountain, calling it the liver and now that the coal is depleting, we are suffering and going to suffer more from the extraction of the coal and poison processes used in doing so.

The Aborigines have warned of the contaminating effects on the Coral Reefs from Global Warming, which they see as Mother Earth's blood purifier, our sacred water is being polluted. The Indigenous people of the Rain Forest relay that the Rain Forest are the lungs and need protection, and now we see the Brazilian Government has approved the depletion of 50% of this Sacred Site.

The Gwich'in Nation has an issue of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, also known to the Gwich'in as 'Where the life begins!' The coastal plain is also the birthplace of many other life forms of Animal Nations. The death of these Animal Nations will destroy Indigenous Nations in this territory. As these destructive developments continue all over the world, we will witness many more extinct Animal, Plant and Human Nations, because of the misuse of power that mankind has made and their lack of understanding the "balance of life".

The Indigenous people warn that these destructive developments will cause havoc globally. There are many, many more Indigenous awarenesses and knowledge of Mother Earth's Sacred Sites, connections (Mother Earth's Chakras) to our spirit that will surely affect our future generations. These people are still suffering from this contamination and their livelihood is being destroyed as I write this to you. There needs to be a fast move toward other forms of energy that are safe for all Nations upon Mother Earth. We need to understand the whole picture in the type of minds that are continuing to destroy the spirit of our whole Global Community. Unless we do this, the powers of destruction will overwhelm us.

Our Ancestors foretold that water would someday be for sale. Back then this was hard to believe, since the water was so plentiful, so pure, and so full of energy, nutrition and spirit. Today we have to buy pure water, and even then the nutritional minerals have been taken out; it's just empty liquid. Someday water will be like gold, too expensive to afford. Not everyone will have the right to drink safe water.

We fail to appreciate and honor our Sacred Sites, ripping out the minerals and gifts that lay underneath them, as if Mother Earth were simply a resource, instead of the Source of Life itself. Attacking Nations and having to utilize more resources to carry out the destruction in the name of Peace and elimination is not the answer! We need to understand how all these decisions affect the Global Nation, we will not be immune to its repercussions. To allow continual contamination of our food and land, is now affecting the way we think. A "disease of the mind" has set in with World Leaders and many members of our Global Community, with their understanding that a solution of retaliation and destruction of peoples will bring Peace.

In our Prophecies it is told that we are now at the Crossroads, either unite Spiritually as a Global Nation, or be faced with chaos, disasters, diseases and tears from our relatives eyes. In times of disasters it is sad to say that it is the only time that we unite spiritually, but we must not taint it with anger and retaliation.

We are the only species that is destroying the Source of life, meaning Mother Earth, in the name of power, mineral resources and ownership of land, using methods of chemicals and warfare that are becoming irreversible, as Mother Earth is becoming tired and can not sustain any more impacts of war. I ask you to join me on this endeavor. Our vision is for the Peoples of all continents, regardless of their beliefs in the Creator, to come together as one at their Sacred Sites at that sacred moment of what is known as the Summer Solstice of June 21st, to pray and meditate and commune with one another, thus promoting an energy shift to heal our Mother Earth and achieve a universal consciousness toward attaining Peace.

As each day passes, bringing us to this day of concentration together, I ask the Global Nations to begin a Global effort, in knowing that each and every one of us are making a daily effort in waking to a gratitude of another day, that is gifted to us and begin to remember to give thanks for the Sacred Food that has been also gifted to us by our Mother Earth, so the nutritional energy of medicine can be guided to heal our minds and spirits. This new millennium will usher in an age of harmony or it will bring the end of life as we know it. Starvation, war and toxic waste have been the hallmark of the Great Myth of Progress and Development that ruled the last millennium.

To us, as caretakers of the heart of Mother Earth, falls the responsibility of turning back the powers of destruction. We have come to a time and place of great urgency. The fate of future generations rests in our hands. We must understand the two ways we are free to follow, as we choose—the positive way or the negative way…the spiritual way or the material way.

It's our own choice--each of ours and all of ours. You yourself are the one who must decide. You alone—and only you--can make this crucial choice. Whatever you decide is what you'll be, to walk in honor or to dishonor your relatives. You can't escape the consequences of your own decision. On your decision depends the fate of the entire World. You must decide. You can't avoid it. Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of humankind.

Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people in a time of such terrible danger? Know that you yourself are essential to this World. Believe that! Understand both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself are desperately needed to save the soul of this World. Did you think you were put here for something less? In Sacred Hoop of Life, where there is no beginning and no ending!

Mitakuye Oyasin,
Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe

SPIRITWHEEL.COM

Psychic Readers Safe to Consult?

Recently, someone asked me if it's safe to consult a psychic reader. Namely, would you be picking up any "energy cooties" from receiving a reading from someone.

This is a loaded question. I'll respond to it from an "insider's" perspective, because I worked in that industry for a long time and witnessed many wonderful as well as ghastly things going on.

I was a full-time psychic counselor for ten years, using the tarot and scanning the lines of the palm to guide people with various issues. I always invoked divine help before each session, and nobody ever reported coming out of a session feeling unwell. My goal was to help people to reconnect with their own sense of spiritual sovereignty or personal spiritual power. That's not to say that I never had a bad day, but if my energy was low, I usually tried to reschedule the session.

Unfortunately, not all psychics who give readings do this. And many psychic readers have nasty crud clinging to them, from elementals to discarnates to really dark entities that they have been invoking in magical ritual. So, I would say it's important to invoke divine protection before receiving any reading from a psychic. Also, check in with your own intuition to see if that reader is right for you. And if you feel afraid, emotionally depressed, or physically drained after a session with a psychic, something has clung to your energy field, and you should immediately do some type of spiritual cleansing procedure to remove the goop.

Some of this dumping of toxic energy happens on an unconscious level, perhaps because the reader was feeling tired or cranky about doing another reading that day. They probably didn't intend to drain you, yet their low energy projected itself out at you.

There are also a lot of psychics or "bottom dwellers of the occult" who openly practice various forms of energy manipulation, placing astral hooks, cords, and veils over people. If you feel confused, light-headed, or like you need to suddenly hand over every last cent to the gypsy sitting in front of you, chances are that she was working some "nasty mojo" on you. Remove yourself from the situation immediately.

On a physical level, two simple things you can do to clear out toxic energy effects are to take a shower or to take a nice, hot salt tub. The energy of the shower water streaming down your energy field will remove much of the crud. Putting some sea salt (or regular table salt if that's all you have handy) into a hot bathtub and soaking in it for at least 20 minutes will remove deeper layers of ick that your system may have absorbed.

If you can throw a little baking soda or some essential oils in the tub with you, that's even better. Use some of the essential oils that have a higher vibration - frankincense, myrrh, sandalwood, copal, or lavender are especially good.

You can also invoke God/Goddess/Great Spirit/Spiritual Creator (whomever you regard as a loving Higher Power) to clear out your energy field. This is great to do right before you go to sleep. Just set the intention that you welcome your guides and angels to sweep through your energy field and clear your system of any psychic debris while you sleep. The next morning, you'll feel brand new!

The more you can get in the habit of practicing good "spiritual hygiene," the better your physical and emotional health will be. We all absorb different kinds of energy from the people we encounter in our daily lives. When someone dumps toxic emotions or thoughtforms/projections at us, we feel it as sorrow, anger, or fatigue. Once you learn how to clear this stuff out regularly, you'll realize just how much of a psychic sponge you really are!

I'll be writing much more about energy management and sensitivity in my upcoming book and on my website. I can't wait to share them with you.

See you there!

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

Making Animal Contact

***NOTE: I posted this in my Lifeof7cats blog yesterday, but because that blog doesn't seem to receive many hits, and this might be of interest to you loyal readers at Cosmic Butt Kick, I am reposting it here.

Over the years, I've been blessed to experience many moments of connection with animals, where I'm able to do a "Vulcan mind meld" and really see, sense, and hear what they are thinking. I've learned that the best way to make this type of connection is through beaming out lots of love and appreciation. Then they will usually come to you, calm down, or just simply take a moment and share some information with you.

I believe that we all have these abilities. We just rarely take time to develop them.

I'll never forget the time last year when our landlady brought a new horse to the farm. This big, brown sweetheart was standing in his fenced in area, getting adjusted to his new surroundings. He seemed skittish and nervous. I went up to him to try to stroke his head and say "Hi," but he wouldn't come near me.

I don't have much experience with horses, having never ridden them or been trained to work with them. What I do have is a lot of intuitive, instinctive, awareness. I find that it has clicked in from time to time, sometimes in emergency situations when some of the horses here on the farm have gotten loose, bolting from their fenced in pastures.

Anyway, this horse was very nervous, and somehow, I could tell he was stressed out. I took a moment to beam lots of love at him, doing this for several minutes. He came over to me then. I put out my arms in a hug. He reached his head over to me, and I felt a huge sigh go through him. Then he sort of went limp in my arms, completely relaxing his head on me as I cradled him in my arms. I sensed him saying that he was very scared, very worried about where he was going.

He had been shipped from a farm in Kentucky as a prospective new horse for a buyer here in New Jersey, and I don't think anybody had bothered to tell him what his future might hold. I told him that a lady would be coming to see him and that he might go home with her, but that if he didn't, he'd probably be going back home to his old farm. He seemed to express real gratitude to me then. He just wanted to know what was happening to him.

That horse ended up going back to Kentucky, where I think he was happier, anyway. But I'll never forget the heartfelt feeling of "Thanks!" I received from him after I provided some simple information about what was going on.

Here is a series of fascinating comments about how each of us can develop the technique of animal communication, which is actually an old technique of the Native Americans and other indigenous people. It can be used with horses, but the same ideas also work with cats, dogs, and just about any animal you can think of.

I plan to write more about our spiritual connection with animals in a future book, but for now, check out this great article:

ANIMAL COMMUNICATION

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

Falling Off the Wagon

I have a confession to make. For the most part, I've been a good girl for the past two weeks, diet-wise. I've learned to embrace vegetables as my friend. I've starting cozying up to beans, in spite of my wariness about them. (And my concern that my housemate might not appreciate this dietary conversion, given the "tooting" effects of beans.) I've experimented with recipes for vegetarian lasagne, grilled vegetable sandwiches, and fresh vegetable soup in a vegetable base.

I've avoided processed foods or "factory foods," as my guide the body deva calls these chemically overloaded, manufactured, non-foods.

That is, until yesterday.

We drove up to visit some of Tom's family in northern Pennsylvania. It was a glorious, sunny day, and the drive was fun. We had Sting's new Sacred Love album cranked and were coasting along happily.

At a rest stop, though, I had one of those wonky blood sugar attacks which sometimes happen when I've had too much caffeine coupled with food containing sugar for breakfast. I had had a waffle with syrup on it (not particularly healthy, but not completely terrible, either) for breakfast, plus two cups of coffee. Well, it was a mistake not to have any protein. I should have had a bagel with cream cheese or some eggs.

By 11:00 a.m. at the rest stop, I needed to eat something immediately or pass out. I've always been borderline hypoglycemic, needing to watch my protein intake. But it's rarely a problem unless I go in for that lethal "something sugary plus coffee" combo for breakfast. In this case, the little bit of syrup I added to my waffle must have been enough sugar to knock my system out of whack.

There were vending machines at the rest stop, but nothing of any nutritional value inside. No peanuts. There were some of those neon orange peanut butter crackers in there, but they looked like something left over from the last Ice Age, and I didn't want them going into my tummy. But there were few other choices but candy bars.

I chose a Reese's peanut butter chocolate bar thingie called a Fast Stop or a Fast Break or something. It had some peanut butter in it, I reasoned. Well, I knew it wouldn't be real peanut butter, but still. Everything else in the machine looked so bloody scary that this seemed pretty benign in comparison.

I wolfed the thing down, trying not to think about all of the calories, the preservatives and colorings, and so forth. I didn't explode or anything, so I thought, "Maybe this won't be so bad." My blood sugar level stabilized, and I was fine until lunch. Lunch was a healthy soup and a grilled cheese sandwich, not too bad.

But - just like an alcholic who has JUST ONE DRINK and then reasons to himself, "I"ll have JUST ONE MORE," I went for the bowl of jelly beans at Tom's sister's house and also had a glass of Pepsi. (Soda has been on my "no" list for two weeks, too.)

I only had half a glass (says the recovering sugaraholic) and perhaps a handful of jelly beans.

Within an hour or so, I was hugely bloated, like I was a python who had swallowed an antelope. (Do pythons eat antelopes?) Anyway, suffice it to say that I was very uncomfortable.

I had more of these unpleasant digestive issues going on for the rest of the night, even though I had soup and salad for dinner and was back in healthy eating mode. I'll spare you the graphic details.

This was an interesting test of the whole food sensitivity issue. As my body deva shared with me, there are two types of food: real food and "factory" food. Guess which kind is healthy for your body and which isn't?

Any candy which isn't homemade is laced with high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, additives, and other icky stuff. And soda is much the same.

So, I think I have determined that these things will have to return to my "No" list.

It's interesting - food sensitivities are an epidemic in this country, but most people never detox enough from eating preservative-laden foods or unhealthy stuff to be able to figure out what they're allergic to. It can be quite a puzzle, trying to figure out what's happening in your body.

Oh, along with the bloating, I had lethargy and tiredness yesterday after I ate the crappy foods. Quelle surprise. (Not!)

Since I've been eating healthier and have gone off of eating any meat, I have been waking up earlier, my skin has been clearer, and I've lost that pile of bloat that always seems to be parked around my mid-section whether my weight is at the higher end or the lower end. So even in just two weeks, there have been some incredible changes for the positive. I've also been more mentally sharp, feeling more alert. And my psychic sensitivity has increased by about 15%.

I suppose the moral of this story is -

BEWARE THE JELLY BEANS!

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

Spiritual Rebirth and the Easter Holiday

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always had a thing for bunny rabbits. They get me all gooey, as in, “Awwww, loook! A tineee little bunnee wabbit!”

I think I may know why. One concept that has become more accessible to the masses over the past twenty years is the idea that each of us has an animal “totem” or guide from the natural world. This comes to us from the Native American cultures who based their religious practices on a much closer ongoing relationship with Mother Nature. To them, animals have always been revered as unique teachers.

These folks didn’t see animals as “gods,” contrary to the beliefs of the early Christian Church. A “Great Spirit,” or loving, animating intelligence was seen to be the ultimate “God.” But animals, with their intimate connection to Nature’s cycles, had many lessons to teach us. For instance, by observing what animals were physically doing at different times of year, you could learn how to attune yourself to the seasons. When the squirrel started burying nuts in preparation for winter, this would act as a cue to trigger a person’s own preparation for the coming cold season.

Individuals were believed to possess their own unique totem (also called a “power animal.”) This being helped the person throughout their lifetime, rather like a fuzzy guardian angel, only the power animal acted as a guide in material matters. The animal’s strong connection to Mother Earth and her cycles made it an especially wise guide when a person needed to align themselves with the principles of creating and manifestation in the world of 3-D. So whenever you were confronted with challenges having to do with your physical health, financial well-being, or immediate physical environment, it was helpful to meditate upon your power animal to receive guidance. A guardian angel, on the other hand, concerned itself mainly with spiritual issues and the evolution of a person’s awareness of higher truths. So your guardian angel was more of a “4-D” helper, or a messenger from a more advanced dimension than this one.

It is said that hiking out in nature and paying attention to any animal that appears to you will help you to find your personal totem. I think the rabbit is definitely one of my totems. In my dreams and in my physical daily life, the bunny has always brought me helpful messages.

In my twenties I auditioned for lots of roles in the theater as part of my work as an actress. Every time I dreamed about a rabbit after an audition, I would end up getting the role. This was true whether or not, in my opinion, I had actually given a decent audition! So rabbits were accurate forecasters of me being given acting jobs.

And dozens of times when I have been at my wit’s end about something, Mother Nature has sent a physical bunny along to encourage me. One time I was agonizing over a relationship. As I took a drive in the car, I sent out a prayer requesting guidance on the subject. I had barely phrased the sentence in my head before I saw a white dwarf bunny loose in a nearby field. This pet had obviously escaped from somewhere, and the “coincidence” of his prison break was attuned to my need for an encouraging sign.

His appearance led me to focus on creating peace in my relationship, a relationship that has continued to the present day. I’m very glad for the bunny’s arrival on the scene.

Spring is the time of year for people like me. The European pagan goddess Eostre, traditionally depicted as a mother hare, lends her name to the coming Easter holiday. Eostre was always honored in the springtime when the first rabbits emerged from their burrows after the chilly winter. She was seen as a harbinger of hope and a bringer of good tidings. I don’t think that she would mind having her holiday blended in with today’s Christian Easter. She’d be very much in tune with Jesus’ message of personal renewal, of being reborn to a higher level of consciousness.

Whether or not you are a “bunny person” (and I know there are a few of you out there!), you might enjoy meditating on the idea of an animal totem. Usually, any animal that you’ve always felt strongly drawn to will end up being your power animal. There are a lot of great books, websites, and classes out there to help you discover more.

Here’s a site that provides a simple meditation to help you to connect with the energy of a power animal.

POWER ANIMAL INFO AND MEDITATION

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

The Body Deva Makes Contact

One of my readers was kind enough to share some of her own recent experiences which seem to run parallel to mine. She, too, sounds like an "accidental vegetarian."

Dear Jennifer,

Last week I finally got the cosmic shove to become vegetarian, with a little fish and chicken thrown in for the vital need of protein. The few times (very few times) I had considered going vegetarian, the thought was immediately dismissed as a truly crazy idea. Now, well, it's is as if something has totally changed me . . . it is like I have always been vegetarian . . . no cravings, not one thought about missing meat. Strange!

I guess at this point you must be thinking "This is one weird person," and you are probably correct. But, knowing that someone else is experiencing much of the same, I cannot help but communicate. The parallels are intriguing.

Thanks for listening,

Charlotte tischarlotte@msn.com

Thank YOU for writing, Charlotte. It's nice to compare notes with someone who is also going through some inner prompting to avoid meat and denser foods. Like you, I always thought vegetarians were a little suspect. I jokingly called them, "Sproutheads" behind their backs. (Not very enlightened, I know!) To me, vegetarians always seemed thin, spaced out, and a little grumpy, and I didn't want to follow in their footsteps.

Now it's been twelve days since I've been "allowed" to put any fast food, candy, fried junk, or other chemically-laden stuff in my body. And meat is something that, much as I am skeptical about myself actually being able to avoid it, I just can't eat now.

My boyfriend and I went out for lunch today and each ordered soup. I tried split pea, he ordered cream of potato. I forgot that split pea often has ham in it. Sure enough, it was riddled with the stuff. I looked at it and thought, "Maybe it's okay for me to eat this. It looks good." But every cell of my body just went, "Don't you do it." So I swapped and nabbed his cream of potato. (Yum!)

If you had told me a year ago that I'd be hunting through old cookbooks that I had long ago tossed aside because they were too "healthy," crammed with vegetarian recipes, I would have told you you were nutty. Now I'm the nut, as I've had to switch over to nut butters and raw nuts to help supplement my protein intake.

I was doing some meditating the other night and found myself connecting with an energy I'd never contacted before. This lovely, spritelike being appeared in my mind's eye, bathed in a swath of beautiful lilac color. She said that she was my "body deva," different from a guardian angel. The devic kingdom is assigned to watch over everything from stones, crystals, animals, and trees, but I never knew that we humans are also assigned one at birth. The deva keeps pretty quiet, helping regulate bodily processes, assisting us with absorbing energy from our food. She's like a helpful manager who quietly watches over body stuff in the background.

She gave me a long download of incredible information. When I tune into my guides, angelic helpers, spiritual teachers, and so forth, I always receive info in the form of information waves, exciting blasts of insights which sort of billow forth. As a writer, I'm always try to jot everything down so I can share it with others. Apparently, the body devas have a lot that they'd like to share with people about food, health, and energy levels. Looks like another book I need to write. Sigh. I only have 30 piling up inside of me, screaming to get out. I'd better get started!

The body deva said there are two types of food: "Real" food and what she rather sharply called "Factory food." Real food is created by a harmonious combination of team players like Mother Earth, the trees and plants, and the devic kingdom, who help to oversee many of nature's processes. The body deva said that it is a pleasure for the devas and plants to bring forth food for humanity, that that is part of a sacred agreement that they made with humanity many aons ago.

Things were okay up until the last hundred years or so when the dawn of the Industrial Age brought machines and pollution to our doors. And now, between genetically modified foods, chemical additives and preservatives, and artificial flavorings, we're moving farther and farther away from eating anything that bears any resemblance to its original form. The body deva said that food that is laden with preservatives, for instance, is hard for our bodies to absorb. She wasn't too happy about the genetically modified rice that is slated to be produced in California now. (I kid you not, the stuff has altered human genes spliced into it. This is openly reported in the media. Why would we cannibalize ourselves by eating pieces of us? If you'll recall, mad cow disease was caused by cows being given ground up cow flesh to eat as food. Cannibalism goes against nature, and it is bound to cause killer diseases if we allow this to enter our food chain.)

The body deva shared so much more, but the gist of her message is that you absorb nutrients and energy from food more rapidly and easily if you keep your food source as fresh as possible. She said, of the meats, fish and fowl are the lightest in density, and they don't take too long to process in the body. But frozen meat is dead and doesn't have much energy in it. Beef, she said, is pretty messed up now. The drugs in the meat, she said, are a contributive cause to things like fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and other "new" diseases. She said dairy cows are better, but meat cows are pretty filled with stuff.

She also added an interesting thing. She said fatigue, emotional imbalance, and depression are largely caused by the foods we eat. Again, if something is all additives, chemicals, and preservatives, or if it is a dense meat, the body has to divert a larger proportion of its energy reserves to break down the food in your body. You have to expend so much energy doing this that you will generally feel worn down from the very process of eating.

I listened to all of this and had instant flashes of the last 18 years or so of chronic fatigue, which has been intermittent for me.

She also told me a very significant thing, I thought: there really is something to eating free range chickens instead of ones that are raised in more appalling, penned up, conditions. We take on some of the emotions of the animals when we eat them, so if a cow or a calf (who had the misfortune of becoming veal for our table) has been raised in a crowded, mechanized, way, they're not happy. And we will absorb some of their sorrow when we eat them, through a sort of emotional osmosis. She said that this is a contributing cause to the epidemic of depression in people on the planet now. We've lost our sacred relationship with the animals who are kind enough to become our dinners, dishonoring them and their contribution to our lives.

So many teachings, so many things to think about.

I advise readers to discern for themselves and see if any of this information resonates with them. Myself, I'm excited to be learning so much new stuff about the body and its metabolism, how it processes food, and more.

Why do I get the feeling that this body deva has been trying to get my attention for a long, long, time? I'm glad I'm listening now!

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves

I proposed a new astrology column to an editor at a high society magazine recently, and the editor sent me a nice rejection note. I say “nice” because he communicated in a polite and respectful way, and 99% of editors I submit material to never even have the courtesy to respond at all. So it’s always a pleasant surprise when someone acknowledges what I’ve sent them, even if the material isn’t right for their particular publication.

This editor informed me that he had been featuring a numerologist’s column for years, so he’d better just stick with her. He also mentioned that he had several friends who were astrologers, and he hinted that it would be safer and smarter for him not to rock the boat by making a change.

This attitude is common among people who have hooked up with metaphysical people like astrologers, numerologists, and the like who prey upon superstition and encourage dependency in their clients. This editor practically stated that he was afraid to fire his columnist because she might put a spell on him, curse him, or mess up his future in some way.

I absolutely detest the gypsies, tramps and thieves who act like squatters, asserting ownership and control over people. Any psychic, tarot or rune reader, medium, etc. who doesn’t enhance your own sense of being a sovereign, powerful, spiritual person is full of crap. There is a reason why astrologers merit such derision in the Bible, for instance. Even in Old Testament times, charlatans had set up shops and muddied this incredible ancient science with superstition, black sorcery, and all manner of evil.

Not much has changed today. When I encounter strangers in a social setting and happen to mention that I’m a writer who mostly writes on spiritual subjects, including astrology, people usually respond with fear or even anger. I swear that if I told people I was a prostitute, I’d receive a lot more respect. Sex is something people understand, but for some reason, the realm of the human spirit and the miraculous terrain of the higher mind scare the dickens out of people.

What they don’t realize is that they have been trained to respond that way. Every societal institution from our school systems to our churches to our governments discourage people from seizing control of their own spiritual “helm” and learning how to navigate themselves into a higher state of awareness and sensitivity. So many things are always knocking you down when you set yourself consciously on a spiritual path that most people give up before they even get started. Then, once you start to have your own moments of intuitive perception or peak experiences in prayer or meditation, it becomes difficult to share this with others. Gurus crawl out of the woodwork, telling you that you must spend thousands of dollars to train with them and take workshops. The walking wounded or “typhoid Marys” who have been dabbling in the occult for years, accumulating garbage in their energy fields, suddenly want to become your pals, thereby transferring their “cooties” to you.

And the various black magicians, fakes, and psychopaths who litter the streets of the New Age don’t help matters, either.

I’m going to be creating material which will be offered in a newsletter and in a series of books. The theme will be “The Cosmic Informer: Secrets from the New Age Underground.” Those who have eyes to see, a heart to feel, and a mind to discern are always perceiving the nonsense that is going on in spiritual circles. The information I’ll be sharing is based on over 18 years of experience in metaphysical and artistic circles. You’ll read stuff that makes you cry, things that make you laugh, and a great deal that will make your head spin. Every bit of it will be designed to provide practical yet sophisticated information to help you investigate the territory of your spiritual self in a safe, fun, and enlightening way.

The question is – are you ready for it? I’d certainly love to share this with you. Rest assured that, once you enter the Lipstick Mystic zone, you’ll be embraced with warm energy hugs and given tasty fuel for thought, without an icky aftertaste.

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

The Accidental Vegetarian

I had a weird flu thing last week that resulted in two days of fever. I recovered pretty quickly, and I'm fine now. The fever was one of those rare events that happen to me every couple of years. It came on very fast, with little warning. I'm not a big fan of taking aspirin for a fever, because I believe our bodies know what's best for us. If something needs to be burned out of me, well, then, bring on that fever, and let's sweat it out!

The Native American tradition of attending sweat lodge ceremonies is based on this idea - that heating the body and inducing sweat allows you to expel poisons from your body. Even the sauna and the jacuzzi are variations on the same thing - get your body good and hot, and let that goop ooze out of you for good. (Maybe that's why I tend to avoid jacuzzis. I always get the sense that I'll just be sitting in a pile of somebody else's energy debris, and who wants that? It's different, I guess when you have a jacuzzi of your own. But, for now, anyway, I don't want to pick up anybody else's cooties.)

I felt a lot of healing and clearing going on during my fever, and I did some meditative work with my spiritual guides and helpers. So it all felt like a very natural process, one that I decided to flow with instead of push against.

I don't know if you ever saw the Bill Moyers special where he went to a lab and gave them a blood sample (or a tissue sample, I can't remember which.) He had them test it for chemicals, i.e., man-made substances that don't naturally occur in nature. The results were astonishing. He turned out to have huge amounts of toxic materials in him, and it is believed that his test results were representative of the wider population. So, at any given time, it's a safe bet that you've got yummy stuff like formaldahyde and petroleum products and detergents and other poisons amassing in your system.

Because of this fact and the highly industrialized society in which we live, our bodies truly do need to detox once in a while. While eating right and getting enough sleep is good, sometimes all that does is to maintain the status quo. Once in a while our systems need something stronger and more definitive. Sweating is very good for this, and a good workout can do much to clear you out. And, in my case, it seems like my body needed a fever to really get rid of some baggage that I had been carrying around.

I've been going through an intriguing dietary change, too, as I've been healing from this bug. Many times over the years, I've tried to be a good "New Ager" and attempted vegetarianism. I failed miserably at it. I would always feel spacey and ungrounded without having meat in my diet, and I also found that my cravings would go into overdrive. Whereas normally I might have a Big Mac attack once a month, it would suddenly become once a week after I attempted a vegetarian switchover. And sugar was something that I always gravitated to, indulging in candies or desserts whenever the mood struck me, without even trying to avoid them.

But this week, I've found myself craving fruits and vegetables like nobody's business. We went out to brunch today, and I found myself GETTING EXCITED about ordering "root soup" for my meal. The root soup consisted of carrots and parsnips in a puree and it was really good. But I had to laugh. Who in their right mind gets excited about having root soup for breakfast? What am I, a bunny rabbit? And yet, my body is totally rejecting meat right now. I keep thinking maybe I'm just supposed to go off of red meat and stay on chicken and fish, but I'm not sure. I'm suddenly craving good foods instead of bad ones, like maybe my illness helped me kick some of those bad cravings and helped orient me towards life-filled, prana-rich, items.

We also have been intuitively receiving information that it's a good idea to stay away from beef right now. I don't think it's because of mad cow disease. My sense is that more and more drugs are being injected into the beef cattle at this time (because of the growing fears about mad cow and other diseases.) And this excess intake of antibiotics or whatever in our food supply is bad news. There must come a point where the cows reach a saturation point with these various poisonous injections, and do we really want that same toxic stuff absorbed into our bodies?

That said, I'm still feeling okay about cheese, milk, and cream, and my sense is that the dairy cow population is not being subject to this same excess round of drugs as the beef cattle. Yet. Poor cows. They don't need all of these excess drugs circulating in their systems, either.

Maybe we need to start a movement to start sweat lodges for cows? Guide them through a healing and detox process? Let's support that cause in the next election. See which candidate will go for it. Whoever it might be, he'd definitely get my vote.

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

The Full Moon and Dreams of Intergalactic Cocktail Lounges

This coming Monday, April 5th, is a full moon. It takes place at 7:03 a.m. EST in the sign of Libra. The full moon brings to a head any pent up emotional issues that we've been carrying around for the last four weeks (the most recent lunar cycle.) If you've been holding in a lot of anger or sorrow, you could experience a powerful release process as something triggers you to let it all out. This is a healthy thing, so don't worry if you're feeling a bit on edge. Your nervous system is trying to clear something out of you, so go ahead and jettison those toxic emotions. Just try to do it gently, without taking somebody's head off in the process!

Since the full moon occurs in the easy-going sign of Libra this month, Monday shouldn't be too intense. Yes, you may need to come to grips with something and deal with some strong emotional issues you've been carrying around. But this is likely to manifest in a relatively gentle way. You could have a sudden flash of insight that changes your perspective on things. Maybe you'll realize that you really really really hate poppyseed bagels, even though you've been chomping on them for years. "Why am I eating an opium source without enjoying any of the benefits?" you might wonder.

Or you could discover that you absolutely detest your bedroom's wallpaper. "Whatever made me think that polka dots were a good idea? They're making me dizzy!"

You might even gain some clarity about a significant factor in your relationship. "Whenever I ask my girlfriend 'What do you want to do?' and she says, 'I dunno,' it makes me want to smack her. Maybe I should tell her that she shouldn't be afraid to express strong opinions. A woman who knows her own mind is a sexy thing."

The full moon will definitely bring some sort of revelation, be it a major or a minor one. Pay attention to the dreams you have over the weekend, because a full moon period can generate vivid night-time dreamscapes. Quite often, the dramas unfolding in your dreams can clue you into what you need to take a look at in your daily, waking life.

Now, if I could just figure out what my own dreams are telling me. The other night, I dreamt about having cocktails at an intergalactic space port bar. It reminded me a little of the cantina scene in Mos Eisley in the first Star Wars movie, only the aliens were far less creepy, and the bar wasn't a dive. It was a rather luxurious sort of place with strange-shaped people hanging out, carousing and having fun.

I remember walking up to one dude in a scary-looking face mask which appeared to be part of a spacesuit he was wearing. I poked him and quipped, "You're not Darth Vader, are you? Heh heh heh."

He was not amused. I was lucky he didn't take out a light sabre and slice off my earlobe or something. Instead, he remained silent, and I continued my giddy circuit of the crowd.

Maybe we can arrange to meet in our dreams. That's a fun thing to try with a friend. I've managed to do it a few times, deciding ahead of time on a location and setting the intention to share a dream with someone. I'm not sure the exact address of the intergalactic cocktail lounge, but look for a place with lots of music, laughter, and loud chatter.

I'll see you there. Drinks are on me.

lipstickmystic@comcast.net

Mercurial Activities

Mercury, planet of communication and interpersonal energy flow, moved into the sign of Taurus on Wednesday, March 31st. With Mercury in such a practical, straightforward sign, you'll find yourself drawn to activities where you'll be cutting through the crap, in one form or another. You could be inspired to respond bluntly when your girlfriend asks you, "Do these jeans make me look fat?" Or you might decide to be honest for once when your boss asks you to fill out an evalution on him. "Handles staplers and Post-It Notes well. Exceeds at activities which involve only one brain cell."

In other words, you could get into a little trouble if you're not careful.

While Mercury heightens your desire to communicate in a succinct, direct, and even brutally honest way, Venus moving into Gemini on April 3rd could create a sense of emotional detachment from whatever interpersonal drama you are involved with. Venus rules sentimentality, emotional closeness, and romantic impulses, but in the cerebral sign of Gemini, she'll be playing things a little cool. "I might go out with you, if your wallet is big enough/car is expensive enough/job is high profile enough."

Venus in Gemini carries an influence which is less about connecting authentically from the heart and more about coolly evaluating others from a safe distance. Venus in Gemini says, "Don't come too close, unless you can convince me that you are outstanding."

The best way to handle these planetary influences, which will last for about three weeks, is to count to ten before lashing into anyone and to pause before you voice personal criticism. Your sense of humor might be a little darker than usual, especially since Mercury will also be in retrograde for most of April. It goes into retrograde on Tuesday, April 6th, and goes direct on Friday, April 30th.

It's a good month to turn that sharp-tongued, cool and dispassionate viewpoint on yourself. What parts of your own life need fixing? Which relationships are no longer fruitful? What habits and attitudes merit a swift toss in the trash?

Do homework on yourself instead of trying to make over others, and you could make some major progress in April.

lipstickmystic@comcast.net